Pneumatic action for automatic playing mechanism.



E. SWANSON. PNEUMATIG ACTION POR AUTOMATIC PLAYING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JANS, 1913.

am sa. @im @w52 @MMWMQ vlm'enteol Nov. 18, 1913. A

"cierran onrrou;

EML SWNSON, 0F STEGER, LJINOIS, ASSIGNOR TG STEGER L SONS IANO hANFFAC'u TURING COMPANY, OF STEGEER, ILLINOIS.

PNEUMAT'IC ACTN FR UTQMATIC PLYNG MECHAIDTISM.

Lorenz/2.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pgtentd Nov, 18, 1913, A

Application led January 8, 1913.

Serial No. 740,769.

- Y all 'zu/0m t may concern Be it-known that l, EMU, SwANsoN, a citizen ot-V the United States, residingI Steger, in the county yof T.Vill and State ot 5 illinois, have'invcnted ne f' and useful lmprovements in Pneumatic Actions ior Automatic Playing Mechanism, of which the tollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming .1.0 part. thereof.

' The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved construction of the pneu- `matic action of an'automatic playing mechanism or keyed instrument.

It -consists in the elements and lreatures of construction shown and described as in dicated in the claim.

In the drawings: Figure lis a Vertical fore-and-attsection oi a pneumatic action 29 embodying this invention, thesame being shown in connection with the har-'amer action of the piano on which it operates. Fig. 2 isa d etail axial section oit a primary pneumatic valve involved in the structure.

The pneumatic action embodying this invention is shown in connection with the hammer action of a piano upon which it operates, comprising the wippen, l, and the back-check, 2. rlfhe manual key, 3, and ab- 30 stract, 4t, are also shown to indicate the relative position of the pneumatic action with respect to the manual. The power pneumatics, 5, or' this pneumatic action are po- -----sitioned vertically with their moving members, o, hinged at the'u'p'p'er end and the lower end of each connected by rods, 5, with the vertical depending arm, 8, of a bell crank lever, 8, 9, iulcrumed at its angle and having its horizontlarm, 9, operating upon 40 the wippen. The power pneumatics, 5, in two 'ro-ws are mounted uponpthe exhaust chambers, 10, 10, positioned one behind the other, the power pneuinatics being thus comprised in two rows, the pneumatics of each row being opposite the intervals between the pneumatics ofthe other roy' 'the usual staggered arrangement. Each power pneumatic is controlled-by a. secondary pneumatic, l2, operating the valve, 13, the secondary pneumatic being in turn controlled by a primary pneumatic, le, operating the double valve device, l5, the primary pneumatic being controlled in the usual manner by the admission otair throughthe'duct, 16, leadv ing from the tracker, (not shown).

ilVith the power pneumatics and their connections arranged as above described, it will be observed that all parts connected, including the wippen with its hammer' and the bell-crank lever, 8,9, operate by gravity e0 to hold the power pneumatic in expanded position, supplementing the natural rer' action oi' the bellows element of the power pneumatic for this purpose; and, in view of the suspended position of the moving mem- 5a ber, G, making it require but very slight force to move it from collapsed to expanded position, this' arrangement of the partscontributes to nereasy action of the power pneumatic, ma ring it possible to dispense with expanding springs orequivalent devices and so reducing to a minimum the force necessary for the collapsing action.

In order to render the stroke of each power pneumatic exact and exactly adapted to the action of the particular hammer upon which it onerates, there is set through the moving wall of each power pneumatic a stop device comprising a screw-eye with a threaded stem, 18, and an exterior eye serving as the means of manual operation; the stein has on its inner end a button, 19, which may be adjusted by screwing the stem through the moving wall so as to protrude i more or less from'the -inner surface` of the 255 moving wall, 6, for encounter with the fixed' wall to limit the collapse or the pneumatic.

In order that the range of stroke of the pneumatic may not be restricted by the presence., or' the button, 19, the inner surface of the.9

mo'ving' wall, 6, is formed with a pocket,

6, deep enough to receive half the button and the inner surface of the fixed wall, 7, pro-vided with a similar pocket, 7a, which accommodates the remainder of the thick- 96 ness oi the button. For limiting the recoil or expanding stroke of the pneumatic so as to prevent any loss of motion in the connections with the hammer action, there is suspended :trom the pneumatic chamber by means of screws, 20. extended through spacing sleeves, 21, a bar, 252, through which there are set stop devices. 18,-19, identical in character with those above described, against whose buttous, i9,l the moving` wallsI of the rear vset of motor pneumatics are stopped; 1n their expanding movement. From the lower end.

of the same exhaust- (hamber, .brackets` 23,-23, extend forwardly past the forward lower end of the forward 100 other for seating at opposite ends of the port, Q9, which they contro-l, said seatingh faces beingl covered as usual with leather 'for insuring' air-tight seating. The continuity of the thread and thestern-,and the threading of the three elementswnmnely, the sleeve andthe two valves,-ont o the stem adaptsy the device for adjustmentl of the two valves'r'and the intervening spacer bodily with respect totthe foot ilange to insure the proper' action of the pneumatic', 14, upon which the foot flange seats and by which'the valve operated for seating upwardly upon the iniiation of said pneumatic, the vertical position of the valves causing them to act by gravity for seating in the opposite direction when the air compression is balanced upon opposite sides of the pneumatie, 14.

I claim:

In a pneumatic action for automatic play-` ot' said exhaust chambers, respectively, havl ing their moving members hinged at the upper end; connections from the lower end ot' said walls for operating' the sounding devices; stop bars suspended from the lower end of the forward exhaust chamber extending in front of the lower ends of the two sets oi" power pneumatics, respectively, and stops for the respective power pneumatics mounted on said bars.

1n testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Steger, Illinois, this 7th day of December, 1912. i

EMIL SWANSON. Witnesses:

H. C. VVTEHLAN, J. N. GANSEN, f if, 

